The Cranberries’ Dolores O’Riordan Dies At 46

Dolores O’Riordan of Irish band The Cranberries is seen here performing on stage during the 23th edition of the Cognac Blues Passion festival in Cognac on July 07, 2016 – Photo: Guillaume Souvant/AFP.

Dolores O’Riordan, the Limerick-born singer of The Cranberries, has died in London of causes that were not immediately announced. She was 46.

O’Riordan’s publicist told the Associated Press that she had been in the city for a short recording session, adding “Family members are devastated to hear the news and have requested privacy at this very difficult time.” Metropolitan Police in London confirmed only that “a woman in her mid 40s was pronounced dead at the scene” and said, “At this early stage the death is being treated as unexplained.”

Former Kinks guitarist Dave Davies wrote on Twitter Monday: “I’m really shocked that Dolores O’Riordan has passed so suddenly – I was talking to her a couple weeks before Christmas she seemed happy and well – we even spoke about maybe writing some songs together – unbelievable god bless her.”

The Cranberries rose to success in the 1990s with hits like Linger and Zombie. Their 1993 debut album Everyone Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We? reached no. 1 on the UK and Irish Album Charts, and no. 18 on the U.S. Billboard 200 Album chart. The band released five studio albums, The Cranberries have sold over 40 million records worldwide. The band went on hiatus in 2003, but reunited in 2009 for a North American tour, and also played shows in Latin America and Europe.

Dolores O’Riordan was the main songwriter for The Cranberries alongside guitarist Noel Hogan. She was known for her strong Limerick accent, and had released two solo albums, 2007’s Are You Listening? and 2009’s No Baggage.

She announced in 2017 that she had been diagnosed with bi-polar disorder, and the Cranberries cancelled multiple tour dates that year, citing ongoing back problems suffered by Dolores O’Riordan.

On Jan. 3 of this year, she tweeted a photo of herself with her cat that reads “Bye bye Gio. We’re off to Ireland.”